Printers, and in particular inkjet printers, are in fact vulnerable to the quality of the inks used. If inappropriate or modified inks are used, the end result is at best poor color rendering or poor print density. Inappropriate or modified inks can also clog the inkjet nozzles and destroy the print head.
In general, an ink that does not present color and viscosity properties geared to the printer used will have a negative impact on the quality of the print proofs. However, inexperienced users are not necessarily able to identify the underlying cause of the resulting poor print quality. The risk is that they will wrongly lay the blame on the quality of the printer or the print media.
To prevent these ink supply problems, printers can be fitted with foolproofing devices making it impossible to fit non-compatible ink reservoirs or cartridges. However, this measure often proves inadequate.
The difficulties involved in ink control are made more difficult still with cartridge-based printers designed for home use. There is a very large market for compatible cartridges, but the inks on offer do not present exactly the same properties as those of the inks specially designed for use with a particular printer. In certain cases, the market also offers cartridge refills and refill kits enabling users to refill spent cartridges. Once again, the refill inks are not always of the highest quality.
Finally, the ink cartridge market also falls prey to counterfeit goods and illicit copies, where cartridges touted as being dedicated to the printer in fact contain inks of a vastly lower quality than that legitimately expected by the user.